…sizzling up hole-in-the-wall ethnic eats of old Dubai

Part 1: A sweet bite of the Big Apple: Financier Patisserie, NYC

You know those days when all you feel like having in the day is dessert. Nothing else matters but the urgent need to satiate that sweet tooth that’s gone out of control, and is begging for a slice, scoop, dollop, chunk of something seriously decadent.

Well, on those days, these are some of the many New York bakeries that I’d love to package up and bring back home to Dubai.

Financier
a French pastry shop, cleverly named after the rich almond cake bar of the same name, as well as its first location in the Financial District.Financier's counter of goodies
My first pick of the day was a dense chocolate walnut slab with a thick top coat of thick chocolate ganache, moist to the core in a way that coats your tongue with velvety chocolate cake crumbs, and an occasional salty walnut to further amplify the sweetness till your taste buds are driven to the brink of a colossal chocolate death.My decadent chocolate-walnut choice. Pre-devouring stage.Mid-devouring stage, as I dig out spoonfuls of chocolate-soaked cake covered by more dense chocolate ganache
Most people would wash that kind of dessert down with some sort of detoxifying drink. But why take up precious stomach space in a bakery with water or tea? I’d just ‘wash’ it down with a non-chocolate, lighter and fruitier dessert: like this wonderful pastry (whose name I’m blanking on) that was a mix between different pastries I love – the powdery sugar-sprinkled streusel of a crumb cake on top, smooth surface of a well-buttered pound cake, and the glazed syrupy stuffing of an apple galette.My way of detoxifying after an intense chocolate cake: a fruity 3-in-1 combination of an apple galette, crumb cake and pound cake
I’d also once been gifted a truly magnificent, raspberry-glazed cake for my birthday by two Financier-crazy girlfriends (Mary and Rads, you ladies rock!) – tangy berry glaze, light layers of cake, and a creamy mousse layer sandwiched in between.

3 Comments

How is it that your reviews on dessert places are 1/4th the size of main course food? Hey, dessert is food too… I demand more reviews on chocolate cyanide, and strawberry vanilla flavored lethal injections.

Point duly noted! I’m definitely going to be posting up more of my dessert escapades, and will keep in mind that you dessert lovers need more sweet gory details :) Check out the (also short) review on Sunburst at http://www.iliveinafryingpan.com/restaurantreview/part-2-a-sweet-bite-of-the-big-apple-sunburst-espresso-bar-nyc/ and stay tuned for my review on the Milk and Cookies bakery in NYC (super long, just for you dessert-a-holics out there!!) as well as this mammoth Spanish spicy-chocolate tower I attacked in Seattle. So don’t despair, more sweet stories to come!

While Dubai becomes sizzling hot during the summer, my sister and I turn up the heat in our own special way - with delicious meals in lesser known, unspectacular alleyways that surprisingly serve up soulful community food. We will play your ever-hungry old time resident guides, and will meet adventurous diners at any one of our favourite restaurants chosen for the day. Be it a Palestinian caramelized onion pie, a 12-hour cooked Indian beef stew, Ethiopian 'steak tartare' or Pakistani griddle-sizzled offal, we won't leave a pot unturned in our hunt for unadulterated, authentic community flavour. Click here for more details on our #intrepidEaterDXB summer restaurant meet-ups.